Waiting for the future

By Fatemah Farag

"We have a vision for Luxor and a plan extending all the way to the year 2017. The idea is to turn the city into an open museum and a cultural preserve," Selim explained.

The three-pronged government plan focuses on promoting tourism, urban planning and diversification of employment opportunities. Regarding the first aspect, Selim points out that "to date Luxor has been known for cultural tourism only. This has meant that tourists spend only 20 minutes in the city itself. We ship people in and out to see this or that temple but there is nothing else to keep them here."

To address this shortcoming, the government is attempting to expand the definition of tourism. "We are presently approving projects which would promote health tourism. For example, the use of sand and our great weather by health spas," explained Selim, adding that 12 facilities of this sort had been approved at a total cost of LE850 million.

Moreover, a golf course project is underway over a 250-feddan area and another similar project has been approved. "We hope that the first course will be inaugurated in November with an international golf championship," said Selim.

A piece of land has been allocated for an entertainment complex and ideas for the promotion of water sports are being discussed. "Can you believe that in a place like Luxor we have only a few cinemas and no theatre?" Selim asked. "These are things which have to change, not only for tourism but also for the quality of the lives of the inhabitants themselves."

Selim denied reports that a shipping dock would be constructed along the western bank of the Nile, which is home to Luxor's archaeological treasures.

"There will be no building of docks on the west bank," said Selim pointedly. "However, we must develop docking facilities because we have 250 boats on the Nile and the result is that you have four or five rows of boats parked parallel to each other at any given time. It is becoming a security hazard and it doesn't look good either," he said. According to Selim, what is planned is a 4.5 km-long dock along the east bank. "We have plans for beautifying the west bank, but its nature will not be changed."

Other plans aim at relieving Luxor of its population overload. "The number of inhabitants has reached approximately 380,000. We need to get people away from the city," Selim said. To date, three housing projects have been approved -- New Teeba [Thebes], El-Taref and New Luxor. The first is to absorb between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants and 70 per cent of the infrastructure is already in place.

El-Taref, west of the Nile, is intended as a solution for the age-old problem of Old Gurnah -- a problem which escalated into violence recently when a confrontation between security forces and inhabitants left four residents dead. "We intend to move nine shanty areas known as Old Gurnah to this new town," said Selim. "The first phase of this project will be completed in two years and will absorb approximately 8,500 persons, while the final project should house 15,000."

New Luxor, which will cover an area of 3,000 feddans, is still in the planning stage.

Finally, the employment diversification focus: "We have wonderful artisans in our town, and yet 90 per cent of the items on display at the bazaars come from outside the city. It is our aim to provide young people with all the support they need to set up handicraft projects," Selim explained.

For the success of these government programmes, Selim stressed the importance of the people's cooperation. "We have a new security concept that is more sophisticated and there is a feeling of optimism on the streets," said Selim.

Asked if these programmes have been successful in reviving tourism, Selim insisted on seeing the glass as half-full. "After what happened, foreigners said, 'Forget it, Luxor has another two years to go before it picks up.' However, next month we are getting two weekly charter flights from England and occupancy in hotels is up, not to mention conference tourism. We are doing quite well, in fact," he concluded with a broad smile.

Walking around Luxor can be both pleasant and nerve-wracking. The streets are empty and only a handful of tourists are out, giving you the impression that you have the entire place for yourself. On the other hand, shop-owners, carriage-and-taxi drivers as well as the boatmen are all desperate for work and have very little to target -- other than yourself. As Selim Ragab, a taxi-driver put it: "These have been very hard times. Right after the incident [massacre], we had no work at all. Today it is a bit better. I mean here you are in the car and I will make some money."

According to government statistics, hotel occupancy is up to 30 per cent, a figure supported by a policy of promoting conference tourism. "We have had people from the Rotary Club, Arab Parliamentary Union and Arab Labour Organisation and they all held conferences in Luxor," said Sabri, who owns a bazaar in the main market area. "Things could have been worse."

However, vendors complain that the majority of visitors are Egyptian and thus are less inclined to buy what Luxor has to offer. "Why would an Egyptian want to buy souvenirs of Egypt?" asked Sabri. "Besides, they usually bargain over prices."

Even though the whole town has been hard hit, some have suffered more than others. As Khaled Fathi, a tourist guide, explained over tea at his home in New Gurnah: "What is really sad is that the people who were hit the hardest are the drivers, tour guides and day vendors -- people who cannot turn to other jobs when tourism isn't flourishing."

Although the government's efforts to revive tourism seem to be appreciated by most citizens, the same does not apply to all the new urban development plans. In the village of New Gurnah, Halawiyat is busy baking bread, while the men in her family are out trying to make money for next week's flour. "Our whole village works in tourism. Many of them are taxi-drivers. They go out every morning and park their cars at the taxi stop, only to come back at the end of the day without much in their pockets." She shakes her head sadly but suddenly becomes very excited with the mention of new cities. "We live off the archaeological sites and we protect them. If it was not for our sons, nobody would have done anything at the time of the massacre. We were unarmed like the police, but we displayed greater courage when it came to protecting the tourists. How can they then move our people out in the desert?" she asked heatedly.

Those who have already moved to El-Taref are not very pleased either. "We have no water or facilities," said Aam Ali as his son filled up a jug from a water truck which comes once a day. "The houses are very small and there is no place for our livestock." Built on a hilltop and known as the "flood victims' homes," the small, domed structures look like toys. "They think things will be more secure when we are out in the desert?" he asked. "Well it wasn't our fault to start with."

People see themselves as caught in the grip of a monkey wrench. "We are poor and getting poorer; it is true that we are getting better treatment from the police but still .... And then there are the terrorists. What can we do?" said Abdel-Fattah, a limestone craftsman whose work has come to a virtual standstill. As he pulled nervously on the neckline of his galabiya, Abdel-Fattah said, "We have been reduced to nothing. When I was young, we used to jump from the top of a palm-tree just for fun. Today, if a man falls off his donkey, he is broken into a hundred pieces."

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? People are not sure. "We in Luxor are very unfortunate," concluded Khaled. "If it is not one thing, then it is another. There was the massacre and then the Gurnah fighting and then a shooting in Minya ... One thing after another. What do you expect?"